Episode 4

Another quality episode of the Contender Asia…. Many thanks to LazyM for posting and sharing with us. I thought the JWP fight with Raffik was a poor showing, I’m glad they talked about it.

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I particularly appreciated Soren’s comment about fighting angry, how it wouldn’t be representative of our sport. I was surprised to see Dzhbar give Raffik some props, “Respect the fight but not the mouth” nice one.

I see Yodsanklai‘s point but I would have liked to see another matchup. I think Bruce would have faired well against any other fighter in the house… It was strange but part of me wants to pull for the under dog. I found myself sitting on my living room floor shouting, “Come on Bruce!”

I know nobody expected him to win but I wanted him to fight back. I know it’s easy from my keyboard to say something so ludicrous, but I thought he was giving him way to much respect. I really wanted to see him go balls out and leave everything out there.

He seems like an all right guy I would have liked him to stick around a little longer. The 2 guys with the most personality on the show have been sent packing… might get a little dull.

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I started My Muay Thai back in 2006... I was tired of reading about MMA, and wanted somewhere I could watch real muay thai fights, be inspired and connect with others who love muay thai as much as I do...
I currently live in London... when I'm not geeking out over muay thai you can find me bombing around London on my scrambler, ferreting out the latest street food gems.

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86 Comments

Poor Bruce. I’ve never seen a shoulder so f’d up that way from too many kicks. Things just got worse and worse for him as the fight progressed. Great fight from Yod. He definitely showed why he is the favorite to win.

Anyway during the challenge it was funny how someone forget one piece of the puzzle. I don’t think they showed who in the Blue team screwed up…

God damn i love this show. And thank god Yod And Nauropol is in there, and thanks for this awesome website, we dont get it here in Denmark, and this is awesome to wathc, im like a little kid when watching all episodes. Muay Thai Forever, and what a good thing to do by Yod to help out Zach, but he also shows extreme SelfConfidence and it could be a little dangerous, i hope Yod at least reaches the Final. Hopefully Nauropol will join him. I am Half Greenlandic(Eskimo) half Danish so im not pro western or Eastern Just pro Gooooood Fighters.

Great fight, but that referee was too much, I hope they don’t use him very often, pretty annoying. I love how it’s so opposite from any reality fighting shown here in north america as there is so much respect between all the fighters, especially now that raffik is gone.

Ultimately…in my opinion…Yodseanklai really couldn’t care less who they put in front of him, cuz I don’t think any of those guys can hold a candle to him except for Naruepol (Who I am quite sure he will fight in the finals….lol). I am also sad that Preacher is gone…I would have loved to see him try his luck vs JWP again (for the 3rd time). The only charismatic character left is that Swedish dude….he’s really funny. I can’t wait to see David fight…I’m also waiting for Soren to showcase his skills too….both of these fighters are really good.

ps: I have yet to see the Pacquette vs Samkor fight so if anyone has it, please send me a link, thank u.

Spydaman just hit the nail on the head. Everyone on the show was sort of like, “You’re challening Bruce this early??!!” But I don’t think he gives a shit WHO they put in front of him because he knows he can, and should, beat them.

I’m already a huge Yod fan, but you have to be totally impressed with him in this episode. First, he volunteers to fight one of their better remaining guys. But the more inspiring thing is that his main motive appeared to be to protect one of his fellow teammates. Then he goes out there and completely outclasses Bruce, and I think we all know Yod was totally cruising. I think it was a great sign of respect that he didn’t take it to 5th gear and just pummel the crap out of him; he just kicked Bruce about 5000 times to his right side and threw in a few deadly combos to keep him in total “survival mode” as JWP put it. But I don’t think he was trying to hurt or embarrass him. Then, after the fight, he goes into the locker room and tells Bruce that he considers him a friend and that there are no hard feelings.

Now THAT is the type of example (and episode) I like to see. No trash talking, no stupid mind games, just straight Muay Thai and let the better man win – and show some respect to your fellow competitor afterwards.

Awesome episode. Fights are getting better and better. And fight editing was very ok this time.
Yod is amazing. I have to agree with Nop, I was also like “Come on Bruce, show some moves!” He is nice guy, I like him.
But damn, what was the problem in the ring? He did exactly the things he said he would never do. He was just running around, didn’t let it go, where was his big heart… Yod simply walked over him.
And whats with Alain, ill all the time? He’s like a ghost in there, I’ll hope he shows some nice moves.

Frank…..it’s so true.
Slayer…so true..It did look like Yod was trying to not embarrass Bruce…I think it kinda showed. “Aftah fight! We friends!”…..Those words are very inspirational to the world of Muay Thai. “Now THAT is the type of example (and episode) I like to see. No trash talking, no stupid mind games, just straight Muay Thai and let the better man win – and show some respect to your fellow competitor afterwards”…..TRUE !!!

yeah, everything u guys say iz true tho, but when ur in the ring, everything goes, taunting opponent and others is part of being in the ring. When ur out the ring, its all friendship and respect to 1 another.

Rafik is different lol he disrespectful outside the ring, but he fought with good heart in the da ring.

its so true ,i think this was the best episode as far as respect goes,i do hope it continues ,,,,bruce was no mach for yod though ,,i think he found it hard 2 get going,,,thinking to much and not believing in him self,,cant wait for episode 5,,,,great website by the way

Zach’s balls must hurt a lot. It must be at least a bit humiliating for him that everyone completely writes him off, and that he has to be protected by his teammate like a little kid. His confidence will not be very high when he finally fights.

Does anyone know if there are any rules against picking fighters who have already fought? (e.g. Could the red team have chosen Naruepol or Sean to fight, or did they have to pick someone who hasn’t fought?) I am just wondering because after seeing JWP’s face and his feet, I was thinking it would have sucked if the blue team won the challenge that picked JWP to fight Bruce.

Nope you cannot choose one that already fought. It’s quarterfinals, semis and the final. By the way, Yodsanklai is right handed, so he’s fighting with with the stronger hand as the lead hand. That makes it very difficult to fight him, check those right counter hooks… He changed to southpaw just to make it more difficult to fight him.

yod made JWP a cofee and JWP didn’t say thank you……….it was so disrespectful……………and bruce didn’t wink an say hello to another guy when they pass each other in the corridor…………so disrespectful………how can these ppl lib\ve by being so disrespectful………………CAN EVERYONE STOP GOING ON ABOUT RESPECT………..its a bloody program about fighting…..(oops sorry for being disrespectul then)

Antti, “He changed to southpaw just to make it more difficult to fight him.”…Where did u get that fact from?? An interview?? Maybe u kno him or have trained with him and he told u personally?? Because he looks like a natural southpaw to me….a big indication to me (Other than me having never seen him fight orthodox) is that he loves to throw his left leg. Can u give me a reference??

Yod has always been one of the bestSouthpaw Muay thai fighter along the likes of Samkor, Alex Gong, Sakmongkol, Seanchai.

Anonymous???? “CAN EVERYONE STOP GOING ON ABOUT RESPECT”….NO, I can’t.

“………..its a bloody program about fighting”….WRONG AGAIN !….That’s a program about the art of Muay Thai and if u think Muay Thai is solely about fighting then I suggest u stick to TUF…(where did I hear that before).

By the way, if someone has enough courtesy to make coffee for you….U should say thank you…lol…. :-)

Episode 5 was damn boring, I could hardly hear the kicks, seemed more like teasing then fighting.alain threw in the towel persuaded by frens.Soren aint that good either, my judgement is trevor was better and bruce too..s and a kicks were so super slow and they could use a little editting with the sound, could barely hear it..

Anonymous: like most true martial arts, respect is key to muay thai. This isn’t MMA, it’s an actual art.

I was sorry to see Bruce fight Yod so early too. Bruce gave Yod too much respect (although it’s obvious why). To have a chance he had to stay aggressive and take the fight to Yod. But again, we can all understand why he fought like he did.

On Yod’s part, great game plan. Ya’ll are right, he totally cruised through the fight, didn’t show too much, and stalked his opponent all the way. His demeanor demanded respect and probably had a lot to do with the timid style Bruce showed. And the almost total concentration on high kicks completely nullified Bruce’s punching power. Genius!

Greg, …I noticed it too…some people either don’t wanna learn or just plain don’t know how to read as the title states the word “Episode” followed by the number “4”…..spelled out “F-O-U-R”…Not “4”…spelled out “F-I-V-E”…..but in anonymous’ case…I think he might be new, and might not know about the “spoiler problems we’ve been having ever since the season started.

Guys, the finals is on April 12th, tickets will be up soon to be brought online.Are any of you interested then Ill update you once its up for sale.Im in contact with a nice lady who is probably the sales person..These are general seating at 50 SGD, the VIP tables are 10000 SGD, with perks such as free flow of alcohol, after party, signed posters and able to mingle with the contenders.

To Antti, i dont know if you full of it or speaking the thuth, but I have like 8 to 9 Fights with Yod and he never leads with the left in ANY of the fights I have, seems strange he in every fight he leads with his strong arm, which is his left. To Spydaman and Slayer, I Think Yod shows true good will and heart, and guts. But yes he really does feel like he can beat anyone in the building and rightly so, but no one is Invincible, we all know that. A good left or right on the Chin and no matter who you are you will be rocked, (Sombat vs Sato comes to mind) But i love the Respect that yod shows, its just so fucking me, compared to the country i live in, where people do things only for themselves, never sacrifice or put their ass on the line for someone in need. I love the humanity and yes you usually find that kind of mindset in the martial arts, cause it obvios we learn it so no bully or shithead can fuck around with us. So respect to all you martial artist especially nak muay.

Wow, probably the best episode yet. I know i’m repeating everyone else but damn Yod is one respectful man. I guess its easy when you know your shit dont stink either…… I’m wondering how JWP is gonna be able to hang when he eventually has to fight with those stiches on his nose, because that aint gonna heal all way by the time he needs to put his dukes up again.

Zach….oh man, someone here nailed it on the head, by saying he is like a little kid hiding behind his big bros. I hate it now, I gotta wait a week to see episode 5!!!!! Ohh and The COntender 2 sign ups are up on the contender page just as an FYI to any potential guys……

Hey Nopstar in the Yod clip you have posted, is that JWP he highkicks in the head to knock him out in the end of the clip. Didnt know they fought before the Making of Contender, but i saw Buakaw vs JWP but didnt know he fought Yod.

Well, I’m telling you the truth, he IS right handed. I haven´t seen him fight with an orthodox stance either. If you have 8 or 9 fights from him that´s good for you. I think he has around 200+ fights by now… lol. I bet you haven´t seen any of the first 50-100 or so. And before you start, I HAVEN´T EITHER. It´s just that I believe it when the man says it himself. I don´t want to start any arguments here, I just thought I mention it since everybody seems to be interested in him.

Antti, I wasn’t callin’ u a liar, just asking if you had a reference or a link to an interview so I could verify your claim. It’s definitely possible that he might be right handed….but he sure is “left footed” though….lol. Anyway, thanx for the info, it must have been a blast for you to get to train with all these guys. Especially the best one, RAFFIK….lol.

Antti I wish I was going to Singapore, but I am finishing my education as a Teacher in schools, ahhh If i could watch it live it would be the coolest. Hope Yodsaenklai and Naurepol goes to the Final but i want to see the English Black Guy fight, I think he is very good, just a guess.

Shadyeskimo…..His name is David Pacquette…and yes he is actually very good. I have watched a couple of his past fights (one of them on ISKA), He threw the downward elbow a lot. I also heard he fought Samkor in the past (he lost!) but I heard it was a very close and controversial fight….I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing that fight yet though.
:-(

Hope he doesn’t dissapoint on the show…but I definitely see him goin to the next round…I don’t see anyone on the red team beatin’ him now (YOD has already fought…lol……Maybe Soren??)

David certainly looks like one of the strongest in the Wild Boar team. I think he will be better as captain compared to Rafik. In the ep 1, JWP did mention him as a strong contender. If he impressed a season fighter like JWP then he must that good.

Spydaman Sounds like a cool fight, and with Samkor. A danish dude i sparred with a couple of times Ronnie Neergaard fought Samkor at the Kings Birthday i think and his left leg is legendary or so i hear. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Nd3GPBM3fGk Heres the Fight but i must say Ronnie is a bit Star struck i guess, but he definetley put me down once with his long ass knee in the ribs. But bad fight for Ronnie i think. But then again its Samkor.

Spyda yes it would be very suprising if he goes out early and only JWP and Yod are better fighters on paper than David, but its not fought on paper but in the ring. Although wouldnt it be wild if like Zach is choosen to fight David and he kicked his ass. But the odds are pretty low on that. Still i think Zach is next if Wild Boars win the Challenge. Maybe he is a little psyco nak muay.

Shadyeskimo, thanx for the vid…even though I have watched it a million times in the past…it’s still exciting to watch Samkor fight. His left leg was legendary and feared….he was known to have broken a few arms in the past (no BS).
TexMT…thanx for the video…Pacquette does have some insane low kicks….lol.

Shadyeskimo…btw….Raffik fought Yod last year…not this year….I remember watching that fight way during the summer. I saw the vid u were watching on youtube, and the person who uploaded the vid (ROYISDEAD is his name) has no idea what he was talking about

I guess this is the problem with showing highlights of a fight, especially when it’s made by a fan of one of the fighters. Seeing this vid, it looks like JWP did not get a single decent shot in. I find it hard to believe that Yod was not hit at all during the entire fight.

Spyda thanks for the info, so Raffik fought Yod before the Contender was filmed??? I thought he never fought a Great Champion before JWP?? Coming from Greenland the only martial arts i grew up with was Bruce lee and Jacki Chan movies, even though its good entertainment I missed some real fighting instruction, There was Karate and Tae Kwon Doe but the instructors werent even black belts at all. so when i moved to denmark a whole new world opened to me. Wing Chun and Muay Thai. So I Didnt hear about say Dekkers or Orono or Samkor before 5 years ago from seasoned fans of muya thai.

Nop usually posts better ones than I can find as I’m typically at work and can’t do much. Cranky bosses and all. Plus the megaupload has all kinds of problems, but I’m terribly impatient when it comes to this show haha.

“guess this is the problem with showing highlights of a fight, especially when it’s made by a fan of one of the fighters. Seeing this vid, it looks like JWP did not get a single decent shot in. I find it hard to believe that Yod was not hit at all during the entire fight.”

Yod barely was hit and when he was it was almost never with something clean.

Spyda Strangely enough Bloodsport had a big impact on me and Tong Po in Kickboxer was sooo coool I had never seen a Muay Thai Fighter before, and kicking his shin against the concrete pillar damn. But Frank Dux turned out to be a Fake Didnt he?? I really loved Van Damme when I was a kid but I guess when we age we get smarter.

And Raffik is Good, but there is something about him i dont like, a bit like Badr Hari, so unappealing, so insecure that they have to mouth off and look mean, let small things piss you off. Bad Personality. They are not calm on the inside(Sounds a little Philosofic.)

Bunzy, that is the strangest Muay Thai fight ever. The strangest sight was during the beginning when a guy gave out what look like a burger to another guy on the ring. What was that all about? Were there fast food deliveries in Thailand back then?

I wish Yod picked someone else instead of Bruce coz I would really want Bruce to be either in the Quater or Semi. Naruepol is right, its better to fight with the weaker ones first so that you don’t get injured early and conserved your energy for the later rounds. Look what happened to JWP. I wonder whether he managed to get healed before his next fight. How long does it takes between fights in this show? Anyone knows?

I personally think Yod did what a true warrior would do. What he did was very honorable, in order to prove that u are the best, u must first defeat the best, which is basically what he did….he beat the man who he thought was the best on the blue team. He dismantled him and instilled fear in everyone on the blue team.

Naruepol is right in a practical way and Dan broke it down perfectly. However in the honorable sense, I understand where Yod was comin from. So I guess depending on how you feel u will either side with one or side with the other.

Sydaman, I also think what Yod did was honourable indeed and the outcome must’ve already instilled fear in the blue team. However, what if Bruce was on his good days and able to inflict any type of injury (probably still didn’t manage to win) to Yod. The opposite will probably happened. He will be injured and other contender will think anyone of them have a chance of beating him. I am now a fan of Yod and would want him to reach the final. Wouldn’t want my fauvorite fighter to go out early. I am also beginning to like JWP and is hoping a rematch between these two in the final. Hope he heals fast.

I think they just need to get rid of most of the trash in there, it’s not gonna get interesting til only yod, naru and jwp are left. The others are just there to fill the empty spots. They should have had more khun thai in this show.The farang are ok, but they don’t match thai, john wayne is pretty close though and Kyoshenko is not bad either, there are few other exceptions. And the female host?? She doesn’t belong on this show at all. Listening to her talk is like torture, if they picked her because of looks a casting director some where needs to be beaten and fired.

Dan, the fights was every Wed and Sat nights, no breaks at all between the quarters an semi’s. So if you fought one of the earlier quarters you had a bit more time to heal and so on. If you fought in one of the last two quarters then you have to fight already next week…

“I think they just need to get rid of most of the trash in there, it’s not gonna get interesting til only yod, naru and jwp are left. The others are just there to fill the empty spots.”

Well, some of these farangs have recently fought some of the best Thais, with good results too! Soren fought Jomhod just in August, Dhzabar fought a full match with Buakaw in K-1 and so on… Certainly not trash anyways… ; )